MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2015 Battery Replacement

The number of screws listed here is wrong on my model. I had four of the smaller size.

Just to add to my comment above (I can't edit it because it's anonymous), my MacBook Pro is a mid-2015 15in model 2.8GHz (A1398; EMC2881). For the bottom case it uses six 3.1mm screws, and four 2.3mm screws at the clutch/hinge side of the MacBook Pro. I tried using a 3.1mm screw at the clutch/hinge end, as described in the main article, and they don't fit. It has to be four 2.3mm screws.

The instructions below have you basically taking ALL of the guts out of case. I’ve been doing my own apple repairs since before ifixit was a thing and this one is a handful. My battery was swelling and I wanted to remove it before it burst or bent the case so I took it out without having a replacement and it occurs to me that aside from using the solvent (liquid) to remove the adhesive, you could probably do this only taking the trackpad ribbon out. I have mine reassembled now and will research the best battery to buy but I think installation will take about 5 minutes. See if you can slip a plastic gift card under the battery and wag/saw the adhesive out without the solvent before you go through all of this. It might work. Note, don’t bend or put too much stress on the battery and certainly don’t puncture it…

I’m having a problem trying to get the screws off. I have a set of pentalobe screwdriver set. I found one screwdriver that fits perfectly on one set of screws, but I am unable to unscrew it. I tried using some force pushing the screwdriver into the screw, but nothing happens. Any suggestions?

All the screws on mine are the same length for some reason.

I would recommend the first step is: Run the battery down to ZERO before doing any next step. This reduces risk to you, people nearby, to the MBP and greatly reduces the risk of fire. Step 2 should be: Double-check that the battery is at zero.

I like others listed below and on YouTube, disagree with these full tear down 70+ steps being the only focus. I get that I have to be careful not to get the acetone solvent near the speakers. I skipped 25+ steps by: tilting the MBP away from the speakers and using very little acetone solvent. More pressure with the plastic cards and only a few drops of solvent. While giving the full set of instructions is fine it should be very clear that you can (at the user’s own risk) do this.

If you buy the entire kit, make sure you use the opening tool! I cut both of my index fingers trying to slide it off.

pretty hard to put it back, so I just remove the clips on the upper case....

The trick to putting it back on is to guide your fingers to the same level as the clips, and then when you put the case down move your hand from the left side of the case to the right side of the case; applying pressure when you reach the area where the clips are.

You don't have to take so many steps.

I have magnets- is this the wrong guide?

You only need to remove the tape to the edge of the flap. This is enough to be able to pry the battery connector up.

+1 to above comment

Note that the photo is taken from the hinge side - the other way to the photo in step 3

I chanced it, didnt disconnect the battery and all is well even after giving the insides a good vacuuming before changing the SSD.

I chanced it, didnt disconnect the battery and all is well even after giving the insides a good vacuuming before changing the SSD.

Habe den Akkustecker beim putzen abgemacht um keinen Stromschlag zu kriegen, jetzt wieder eingebaut. Nun habe ich folgendes Problem: Akku wird geladen, aber steigt niemals ueber % und manchmal geht er trotz Anschluss an das Stromnetz einfach aus. Hat da jemand eine Idee?

I seriously hate this step - it is pretty much the only difficult part of the job. Reconnecting these microscopic stinkin connectors is a monumental PITA…

Guys, be very carefull with these 3 cables.. If you are not going to replace the whole display, just be careful as much as possible.

When reconnecting these tiny wires, use one hand to guide and align the connector by holding the wire and the other hand to press them down with a flat end of a spudger. Spent 10 minutes figuring it out and connecting the first one, then only a few seconds on both of the remaining connectors :)

If you try to do this with one hand, it’s extremely easy to move them out of the alignment while pressing them down.

I think there is a better way - where you disconnect the wifi card using the black screw in middle of wire 2 and 3 first and then untie these connectors. I pryed away the connectors but the sockets on the card were all damaged during the process. Ended up having to get a replacement card before reassembly could be completed. So again there are 2 components - connectors which are being pryed away and really fine and delicate socket. Very easy to damage them. Better to take the card off and delicately peel these connectors off. I would not recommend using these pry sticks mentioned here for that.

ATTENTION ! Cette étape est grandement sous-estimée, aucune mention de la délicatesse de l’opération contrairement à d’autres étapes bien plus facile… De plus, il semble possible de sauter cette étape en déconnectant seulement la carte comme expliquer sur la version anglophone du guide !!! J’ai endommagé le connecteur le plus proche du ventilateur, pour rien… Heureusement, tout semble fonctionner correctement…

AirPort/Camera Cables? not AirPort/Bluetooth Cables?

Je confirme qu’il est plus simple de déconnecter la carte (enlever la vis, et tirer délicatement sur la carte) que d’enlever les trois cables / I confirm that it’s a lot easier to disconnect the Airport card (just remove the screw and pull gently) than removing those 3 wires.

Agreed with Abhishek - removing the wifi card first makes this much easier.

How do you know which is which when reassembling?

As many have mentioned, don’t disconnect the wires is reallly a pain in the a… to connect them, it wont be easy and will take a lot of patience….. Better disconnect the card and carefully leave the wires connected.

Just finished replacing my display LVDS Cable with this guide and another one; awesome. I as well just removed the card and left the wires attached. Much easier.

Can anyone explain how to remove the card instead of wires? About to try that out instead, but am going in blind! I see the screw holding the card down, just not sure what to do next…

This is one of those skills that you get experience right after you need it.

I learned these connectors doing RF work. They require a deft touch. Put slight downward pressure while you work to align the pair. Once you get the hang of it, you will know when they are aligned, and they will go back together with a light push and make a slight snap.

If they don’t immediately pop together with a light push, they’re not aligned quite right. Don’t force them, they have a very limited number of make/break cycles.

The cables should retain their bent shape well enough to show where each goes. One it too short to go too far off, and one is too long to fit to the nearest connection.

Is tihs needed? I just want to replace the right speaker.

This connector is very fragile, the left edge of mine cracked off and ended up in the socket. And during figuring that out the cable or the socket appears to have got damaged because “no camera detected”.

All connectors are incredibly fragile. I damaged the fan connector locking latch just by trying to lock it back in place. Fortunately the cable, by the way it inserts, it’s being pushed in rather than pulled on, however, I do have concerns with it not making a proper connection. Malcolm, I am wondering how you fixed your damaged connector?

The connector slides into the socket so using the flat end of the Splunger under the cable and gently lifting draws the connector apart.

This step is unnecessary if you are only replacing the right speaker. - simply loosen the cables that run across the fan, and you will later be able to remove the fan without disconnecting this cable. If you are replacing the left speaker, you do need to remove it, as otherwise the cable will be in the way when you lift out the logic board.

Leave them attached. Remove the single screw holding the board in place and gently wiggle the airport card out (see Airport card removal instructions). Fold the card up and towards the rear of the computer. Now follow the instructions for the camera cable removal. Lift the airport card with the three leads attached and the camera cable up and fold the, to the outside of the case.

why is this needed for upper assembly replacement?

My cable connector covers are not screwed down. Mid 2015 15” MBP. That’s the computer in the title of this article so idk.

When re-assembling, the right connector cover is the smaller of the two.

Cable need not be removed.

Why is this suddenly the Top I/O cable rather than just the I/O cable? This may seem trivial, but the change in terminology suggests its not the cable we just unfastened and to look for another one.

This step needs a larger picture to show the retaining flap hinged upward. This photo doesn’t convey what the words say.

I recommend pushing the cable connector away with a spudger instead of using the fan to pull it away…there seems to be too much stress put on the cable using the method proposed here.

Using a spudger does help alleviate stress on the cable. I also used it to help get the cable up from being adhered to the logic board.

Adding to the other comments, the fan is very light and has no resistance lifting out of the place it sits in.

I carefully lifted the fan just before there was any tension on the cable.

With the fan held in my right hand and spudger in my left, I moved the spudger under the fan approaching from the left side.

This allowed me to easily place the flat end of the spudger under the cable where the thicker plastic sits and gently pry the cable up until the cable broke away from the body.

I then used the pointed part of the spudger to gently pry the connector part of the cable away from the socket while gently pulling the fan away until the cable was disconnected and the entire fan was free.

All connectors are incredibly fragile. I didn’t have any problem unlocking the cable but rather after finishing the job and closing the hinged retaining flap. The hinged flap wiggles, it moves and wasn’t 100% properly aligned. It’s not like it was badly out of place and I tried to force it, no, on the contrary, I was being extremely delicate, but it wiggles in place so so very slightly since it’s not a real hinge. You need to make sure it hasn’t moved before applying any pressure trying to close it or IT WILL break off. It’s frustrating that I damaged the fan connector, not by prying on the socket, but in the last step of just locking the latch.

Fortunately the cable, by the way it inserts, it’s being pushed in rather than pulled on, however, I do have concerns with it maybe not making a proper connection. I am now wondering how other’s have fixed your damaged connectors? As I mentioned at the beginning, I’m sure I’m not the first since all the connectors are incredibly fragile. Any feedback?

Same comment as on step 16…use spudger.

Oh, you rotated the computer while I wasn’t watching.

Also make sure the I/O cable removed on previous step is out of the way before screwing this down

seems to be a photo of a different model. connector is more or less in the same place though.

Top left and right screw (red, yellow) are silver, the other ones black.

Screw with blue circle was in a slightly different position on my logic board; the gold plating surrounding it is the giveaway.

I think it would be helpful to mention at this point that the detail of how to disconnect each individual connector is shown in the next six steps.

Note that the connector sits inside of a little “box” which is the socket. Don’t try to pry up underneath that but stay under where the wires are connected. The pictures are good, and you can see the “box” in the last picture.

+(mit dem schwarzen Klebeband zusammen)

Verwende die Spitze eines Spudgers, um den Verschluss des Displaydatenkabels nach oben zu klappen (mit dem schwarzen Klebeband zusammen) und ihn in Richtung MagSafe 2-Powerport zu drehen.

My mid-2015 has a flexible plastic tape on the cable lock bar, pulling the tape up with tweezers easily rotated the locking bar.

Agree with Robert. Suggest “SLIDE the display cable to the right, out of its socket…” would be less misleading.

I think it bears repeating just how fragile this connector is, particularly on reinsertion. The problem isn’t just technicians touching the connector end; you can damage the pins simply by inserting it slightly out of alignment, or at an angle, because the outermost pins are VERY close to the edge and are very fragile. They have the appearance of being embedded in the connector but they’re actually spring traces just lying on top of it. I managed to bend the southmost pin upwards reinserting it; luckily it flattened out again and worked, but if it had not been possible to do that it’d have been a whole new screen assembly.

When reassembling, be careful not to leave any cables (such as keyboard backlight connector, step 36) under the board.

if you’re only removing the right speaker, no need to remove the logic board. Simply lift the edge of the logic board to remove the speaker cable.

Look for multiple tasks to accomplish when doing a major tear down. I had a bad speaker I was putting off and then the battery bloat hit so put in both speakers to make them the same age. Changing out parts on this machine is easy enough with patience and careful adherence to the guides.

Small comment on starting the reassembly, make sure to check picture on step 30 so that all connectors are exposed and not covered by logic board, I wasted some time putting the logic board back in and then having to remove it again to expose some of the connectors I missed.

note that it’s possible (even easy) to destroy the right speaker during installation - there’s a metal boss sticking up (when case is upside down) that will hit the speaker.

mine came back from apple damaged last week and I just swapped that speaker to fix it.

If you are replacing the LH speaker as well this can be done at this point using steps similar to 41 to 43

Personally I had problems getting the ZIF to disengage, so I disconnected the cable from the other side. Very easy, no problems taking the battery out and dealing with the rest of it.

Heads up: I almost destroyed the cable, mistakenly pulling the connector upwards. In stead it needs to be pulled towards the back of the laptop body. The photos do show this, but I didn’t pay enough attention!

Open screen and put MacBook on it’s side

Don’t paste the new battery before complete reassembly and testing.

I would really appreciate some additional tips on placing the new battery set. I attempted to adhere just the middle two by screwing in the battery management board, but unfortunately I dropped the batteries, and of course, they stuck immediately and needed to be pried out to be seated properly. One I got the middle two placed, I could then peel the backing for the outside four. It’s probably worth mentioning that the outside pair of batteries share space with the speaker assembly, so be careful placing those two.

This process was quick and easy. Takes patience but was able to get it done in about 1.5 hours. Getting the adhesive took the longest after getting the battery removed.

I’d definitely put the speakers back before sticking the new battery down. The new battery got stuck slightly close to where the left speakers was going it, and I was just barely able to make it all fit.

It would’ve been helpful to include a list of instructions for replacing all of the parts instead of just making us read the instructions backwards. When I was putting the logic board back on, I didn’t realize that one of the connectors got stuck underneath the board when placing it back into the computer. After reconnecting half of the connectors I realized one of them was stuck underneath so I had to disconnect all of the ones I reconnected to lift the logic board back up and pull out the connecter that got stuck underneath. I forgot to detach the keyboard backlight connecter and when I lifted to logic board the pull out the connecter stuck underneath, I snapped the keyboard backlight cable that was still attached. Luckily this isn’t a major component and I don’t really use the keyboard backlight that much anyway, but if you included a list of instructions for reattaching everything I probably wouldn’t have had this problem.

I have an additional suggestion on placing the new battery. With the laptop case hinge away from you, I put a piece of masking tape from the bottom (closer) right corner of the new battery pack to the bottom left corner of the battery pack with some slack in it. This allows you to pick up the bottom edge of the batteries in an arc, and position and place the center ones first. I screwed in the battery controller, pulled the heavy plastic backing off of the batteries, then placed the center batteries, followed by the outside ones. be careful to stick the tape firmly. The last thing you want is the batteries coming free and falling to the case and sticking wherever they land. Good luck. This was the most stressful step for me. While you’re reassembling, give the fans and the fins of the heat exchangers a good dust with canned air. :)

The protective film covering the adhesive is one long strip that keeps the batteries aligned. It’s kind of stiff and part of it sticks out preventing the center batteries from aligning properly, so I couldn’t really check the fit. Once I pulled off the film, the left and right batteries became difficult to manage and I ended up dropping a couple prematurely. In hindsight, I think it would have been helpful to cut the film between the cells and cut out the part that was in the way first.

This was quite easy. Follow the sequence. I took a 50cm long wide tape where I put the screws head down on in order to have them in the right sequence while assembling the machine again. Timeframe was 1.5 hours.

All in all this was a great kit. The worst part is step 6. Pulling the 3 little wires off the airport card. Honestly, I would probably just take the entire card off vs those three wires… With respect to putting the new battery in, line up the two screw holes in the battery chips with the case. I also installed the speakers first just to make sure that I’d get the placement right. Other than that, there are a lot of ribbon cables so be meticulous and take it slow. This took about 3 hours to break everything down and about half an hour to put everything back together. Good luck!

Like many others here; I did not do all the steps. I would have surely broken something else. Once I (carefully) disconnected the battery and track pad ribbon cable and carefully moved them aside, I then applied the solution to the batteries to loosen the adhesive. Put my Macbook Pro on a slant to keep the solution from running everywhere, btw. Then I used dental floss to cut thru the adhesive. Didn’t have to work at it much because my batteries had swelled to the point where they had mostly dislodged themself from the adhesive. Great kit and loved that iFixit did not skimp on the tools and accessories. What a difference a new battery makes!!! After charging it and then draining it (calibrating) it seemed like it took forever for the battery to drain. Thanks iFixit!